Forts – and more forts headline the week. We have three different entries into a 3D fort-making competition. The element of competition is also there underwater with a great underwater glider. Not all water is clean and sparkling, so we have some of the equipment that takes care of waste water. There’s even a quadricopter that uses air as its medium. And, of course, we have some production bits and even a Gelgoog. So relax on the ultra-comfortable lounge and take a look!

The ten best 3D models and one 3DVIA Experience uploaded to 3DVIA.com during the weeks of Saturday, October 8th through Friday, October 21st, 2011 are highlighted here.

(Easy links to all 123 previous Top 10 posts are right after the current week’s models, 3DVIA Experience.)

The Top 10:

This is the first of several forts that you’ll see this time around. They were all contestants in a recent fort-modeling contest! Mymodel is the entry by the TOONMIX team of modelers KJ2, F75, F24, D1A, and A97 and uploaded by DSKJ2. They used Dassault Systemes V6 to create their colorful and fanciful version of a Disney fort.

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The Spanish J Mon Team of Daniel Merino Hoyos, Elkin Mauricio, Botia Vera, Luis Garcàa Rueda, and Hugo Ramos Castro imagined, engineered and then modeled this innovative underwater glider. It was uploaded for them by webmasternavales at the ETSI Navales.  The team itself is from the Universidad Politécnia de Madrid. It is one of five concepts selected for the Construction Phase of the UPM 2011 International Academic Competition on Underwater Gliders Design. Their model was uploaded in 3DS format. You’ll be reading more about this competition as it continues.

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The Porsche 928 is a difficult body form to model and to do it using 3DVIA Shape is a super achievement! Frank (Frankxinks) has done it beautifully with his Porsche 928 Rico. Great job!

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Abu_roadking has gone well beyond static 3D modeling with his Experience Fort created using 3DVIA Studio. Abu has captured the same scene as an entire day passes by. The lighting changes are amazing to watch as the water shimmers and moves. Truly mesmerizing!  [Abu lives in India]

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Wastewater treatment equipment is not everyone’s cup of tea (now that’s not a pretty visual comparison!), but BLM77 dug right in and used SolidWorks to create 0-RSP 61 Full Assembly-1, which is a humongous piece of equipment used for the separation of solid wastes from the liquid. It is just one of the many complex products of World Water Works. [BLM77 lives in the US]

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I feel comfortable and more relaxed just looking at Kora26 by Shane (ShaneG). It’s simple and exquisitely elegant! Shane uploaded this gorgeous functional sculpture in 3DS format

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The winners of the Murud Janjira Fort-Making Contest is the team of modelers including Harshad (harshady), who also uploaded the model. 3DVIA Shape was used along with keen observation and attention to detail to create this marine fort, which has an amazing history. The real Indian Sea Fort Murud Janjira is located in open water near the west coast of India.

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Hmm, I hear a faint whirring sound somewhere close by. I wonder what that might be. Don’t get paranoid, but you may be being watched by an AR.Drone Outdoor from the Industrial Design Team at Parrot. It was uploaded by APCI after being developed in SolidWorks to be “the first quadricopter that uses enhanced reality and can be controlled via an iPhone/iPod touch.” Now, what was I trying to do…why are they watching me?

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The Principality of Zeon may not have been saved by the Gelgoog, but the Gelgoog2 created by 3dmodeling is still a mighty fine-looking winner here! CATIA V5 was used as the modeling software.

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Nesting Product1 by sdenoual is a great example of how 3D modeling can help get things done in the real world. Sdenoual used CATIA V5 to help determine how much of each product would fit into this box and still leave room for packing materials. Adding transparency to the box makes for a great presentation and helps get the job done right.

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Industrial processes can be considered a branch of the fine arts when done as well as the CA3 Former Cylinder 1-51cm, by Jennings. I don’t know what this does, but I do know that I want to turn it around and around and explore each surface as though it was a sculpture. Beautiful work uploaded in STEP format

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Just so everyone knows, the order that the Top 10 are displayed is based on color, type of model and how I’m feeling, not any particular ranking. I just rearrange them until I like the way it looks. It’s as simple as that!

Easy links to the previous Top 10 lists: 001 – 002 – 003 – 004 – 005 – 006 – 007 – 008 – 009 – 010 – 011 - 012 – 013 – 014 – 015 – 016 – 017 - 018 - 019 – 020 – 021 – 022 – 023 – 024 – 025 – 026 – 027 – 028 – 029 – 030 – 031 – 032 – 033 – 034 – 035 – 036 – 037 – 038 – 039 – 040 – 041 – 042 – 043 - 044 - 045 – 046 - 047 – 048 - 049 – 050 – 051 – 052 – 053 – 054 (seven weeks in one) – 055 – 056 – 057 – 058 – 059 – 060 – Best of the Best 2009 – 061 – 062 - 063 - 064 - 065 – 066 - 067 – 068 – 069 – 070 – 071 – 072 – 073 – 074 – 075 – 076 – 077 – 078 – 079 – 080 – 081 – 082 – 083 – 084 – 085 – 086 – 087 – 088 – 089 – 090 – 091 – 092 – 093 – 094 – 095 – 096 – 097 – 098 – 099 – 100 – 101 – 102 – 103 – 104 – 105 – 106 – 107 – 108 – 109 – Best of the Best 2010 – 110 – 111 – 112 – 113 – 114 – 115 – 116 – 117 – 118 – 119 – 120 – 121 – 122 – 123

Here’s a brief recap of what I look for when I select the Top 10:

Variety – One of the most important factors. I try to show models created using lots of different software products and showing lots of different ways of using 3D. I include brief comments on why I chose each model.

Creativity, unusual subject matter and humor – These are big factors. We should all be having fun and feel free to model our passions!

There is no reward given – Other than the satisfaction of being noticed, spotlighted and being brought to the attention of more modelers. In my personal experience, the pleasure of having my work appreciated is the ultimate reward anyway.

From time to time I will make mistakes and not follow my own rules – I will review these mistakes on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes I will change the post and sometimes I won’t. I will be consistently inconsistent. I am human.

Your comments are always welcomed and encouraged! Your responses will help the modelers and the 3DVIA community as a whole. Feel free to bring other models to my attention and let me know why they attracted you.

(PLEASE NOTE: In order to make it easier to explore, all photos are linked directly to the model’s page.)

One final note of caution: these are my choices (dswavely) and my choices alone. So, aim the tomatoes appropriately.